Novochernobyl. Journey through the exclusion zone Find the bat in the stalker

Large areas of alienated territories, which for about a quarter of a century have been isolated from the ubiquitous and destructive human activity, have turned into a unique and in many ways attractive world.
Chernobyl exclusion zone gradually turns into one of the most interesting natural complexes in Ukraine and gradually becomes a prominent tourist attraction in our country. Public interest in the alienated territories is enhanced by the abundance of high-quality resources about the city on the Internet and the release of a number of successful computer games with a well-visualized storyline, where the fictional world and the world of the real zone are harmoniously combined. An increase in interest in the real exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is also promoted by the EKSMO publishing house. Also, a significant easing of the access control regime also contributes to the formation of interest among the average layman in the Chernobyl zone.
At the same time, the growth of the Chernobyl theme in the environment around us information space and its transition to the category of mascult, the interest in the exclusion zone increases among people who are tired of the disgusted routine and longing for temporary solitude. Some, having a bivouac experience, find solace in penetrating the territory of the Chernobyl zone. Another reason for the growth of stalkers in the Chernobyl exclusion zone is the desire of young people to feel like a "real stalker" - to run around the zone not on a computer screen, but live.
It was the wave of reports on penetration into the Chernobyl exclusion zone, which the Internet has become saturated with recently, that drew attention to such a phenomenon as stalkers.
It became interesting to analyze both the reports already published on the Internet and to communicate (if possible) directly with the authors of the published materials. For the most part, my appeals to the authors of reports on penetrations into the exclusion zone were ignored, but a few people nevertheless agreed to slightly expand their knowledge about the life of stalkers.

Significant popularization of the topic of the Chernobyl zone is also facilitated by modern literature. One publisher is successfully marketing a series of fantasy stories called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. In many ways, similar to the realities of the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Chief Chernobyl stalker

First stalker

Surprisingly, the phrase placed in the epigraph of the text was expressed by a police colonel, a man who had been guarding the Chernobyl exclusion zone for many years - Alexander Naumov. This former Chernobyl worker, often referred to by journalists as a "stalker", is a frequent subject of journalistic coverage of the Chernobyl zone. Naumov has his own, in many ways unique, view of the form of visiting the zone.
Actually, for the sake of this phrase, it was worth mentioning this person, although those who are not too lazy and “filter” the Internet will find a lot of interesting things about this person and his attitude to tourism and other activities in the exclusion zone.
Despite the fact that the former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not welcome when he is identified with the concept of "stalker" - the newspaper "Vestnik Stalker" with the significant slogan "Your guide in the zone" (created by fans of the game of the same name), contains the author's material by A. "Colonel" Naumov about the events related to the exclusion zone, the liquidation of the accident, etc.

Stalker - what's in this word

The concept of a stalker was introduced by the Soviet science fiction writers the Strugatsky brothers in the story Roadside Picnic. There it was a criminal profession: "That's what we call in Harmont desperate guys who, at their own peril and risk, penetrate the Zone and drag everything they can find out of there." The penetration was quite pragmatic - to steal an artifact (“swag”) from the zone and sell it for money. True, this occupation greatly influenced a person - each campaign is a stay in a borderline situation, where each action means a choice between life and death, where there is always a place for complex moral dilemmas, where intuition is more important than reason.
In the future, the image of the stalker was popularized and filled with new content thanks to the film of the same name by Tarkovsky. Here the stalker is already a pragmatist to a lesser extent, and more of a man of the Zone. He understands and accepts the zone - "he has a date with the zone" says the Professor when the Stalker retires to be alone. And all the problems that he has from this are redeemed not by money, but by staying in this territory, where another would not have lived even five minutes, where there are a lot of miracles that go beyond human experience. A trip to the zone is a test of oneself, a search for inner values. Note that this was all in 1972 and 1979. respectively.
The image of a stalker has gone beyond the limits of works of art, and this is not surprising. Man has always had areas of the unknown, and this gave rise to a whole system of related concepts and images: “border and borderland” as the edge of the inhabited and understandable world, “guardian” - the one who protects this world from another, scout / guide / contactee - one who is familiar with another world. The latter include Charon, shamans, etc. The problem is that the “unknown” in the 20th century shrank very much - there were no geographical white spots left, non-material objects capitulated to science - therefore, guides were no longer needed there. However, having dealt with traditional mythology, industrial civilization began to build its own. And she was the first to announce a new end of the world - a total war on a planetary scale with the use of weapons of mass destruction. Textbooks of civil defense colorfully described this reality - the zones of destruction and zones of contamination (radioactive, chemical, biological). Ruins and places where there is no place for people, but there is danger. Again there were boundaries and guides to the unknown.
The conductor of the industrial era in the mass consciousness began to be called a stalker.

Stalkers of the Chernobyl zone

It is worth noting right away that there are several fundamental differences in people entering the exclusion zone. There is a fairly clear distinction between Chernobyl stalkers into two camps - two categories. The differences between the categories are striking - this can be seen both in the quality of the reports prepared, the slang used, photographs, as well as appearance stalkers.
The first, I would call them so - curious gamers.
The second is ideological.
Regarding these two categories of stalkers, the following can be said:
The first are young people who have received "basic" knowledge about the exclusion zone from computer games, and later from the Internet. It is gambling and the desire to sharpen the sensory perception of game plots that is the reason for the penetration into the exclusion zone. As a rule, the average age of stalkers in this category is about 20 years old, but not older than 22-24 years old. Most of these people make only one or two penetrations into the zone and calm their ambitions on this.
The vast majority of gamers do not even cross the borders of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. They have enough views of the abandoned buildings of the mandatory evacuation zone (Narodichi, Polessky, and Vilchi districts), and the resulting photographs and videos look no less apocalyptic than photographs from thirty and dozens (10-km exclusion zone).

In fact, these territories do not have a security perimeter and it is relatively easy to organize a visit to them - but not "safely". So, in 2008, four game stalkers were detained by the exclusion zone guards. The detainees were tried.
At the beginning of 2009, one stalker was also detained.
The second caste is ideological. Quite a unique category of stalker brethren. Representatives of this category penetrate the thirty-kilometer zone and occasionally enter the top ten. The ideological ones carry out long visits to the zone, which usually last several days, and in some cases reach a week.

Photo - zone visitors

It is clear that penetration into the depths of the zone requires the skills of a single trip and some preparation. Living, even for a few days, in a completely offline mode is not as easy as it seems. For example, for a two-day trip, you need only one water of at least 4-5 liters ...
In addition, being in the exclusion zone in the status of an intruder should (and does) cause some moral discomfort. Voluntarily is in such "uncomfortable" conditions can not everyone.
What drives the "ideological" and what are their goals for visiting the zone? One of the stalkers gave the most meaningful answer to this question:
“... It is difficult to describe in words all the feelings that fill me while visiting the zone, and sometimes I seriously fear that there are hints of some kind of diagnosis in this. Hopefully not significant. It's just that this is the most unique place on the entire planet, a huge territory from which all people instantly left. It is very interesting to visit all these villages and cities, but on the other hand everything looks ominously empty… But the main thing is that I feel alive there. There I am a man who depends only on himself, perhaps this is main reason such popularity of the zone among everyone who goes there illegally, alone or in small groups. I don’t know exactly what the rest of the people are aiming for, those who burn down houses, make a mess in still untouched houses ... my number 1 rule is not to change anything in the zone, no garbage and souvenirs as a keepsake .... ”

Stalker photo of the city of Pripyat

Photo of the Chernobyl zone and the city of Pripyat - "Zone through the eyes of a stalker."
(Photo by Bat)

The last difference between these categories of stalkers is the number. It is difficult to find reliable figures, but according to indirect signs of "ideological" stalkers, there are no more than two dozen. The number of "gamblers" is an order of magnitude higher than the "ideological" ones.
It is worth mentioning the third group of people visiting the exclusion zone, people who are immensely far from computer games and mental suffering of the urban era. People for whom the penetration of the exclusion zone is a common event in their daily life, everyday life. This is the population of villages and villages that are in close proximity to the alienated territories. It is hard to imagine that in our, beggarly time, when the state is actually carrying out the genocide of the village and the rural population for the most part is begging, people would not use it as a source of gratuitous building material, metal and other things that can give at least some income.
Therefore, native stalkers were not considered by us in this material. Although it should be noted that their life requires comprehensive public attention.

Stalker outfit

Equipment important element stalker. There are differences in the equipment and equipment of stalker groups. "Gamblers", mostly use clothes for hiking in the forest, and sometimes simple sportswear. Funds (in most) do not use. Although sometimes, for courage, they take gas masks with them to take a spectacular photo against the background of some kind of radiation safety sign or a dilapidated farm.

Stalker map of the exclusion zone

Almost all "ideological" stalkers know well where they are going. They are well prepared theoretically and have practical skills in radiation safety. All respondents use dosimeters (very often they even take several devices on a hike) and respiratory protection equipment. It is quite common to use gas and alcohol burners for cooking. The diet itself looks thoughtful and usually consists of canned food.

Curious detail. "Ideological" do not leave behind garbage. Cans, wrappers, etc. is taken with you.
In group penetrations, walkie-talkies are often used.
Some use means of physical protection - the balloon "Strike".
"Ideological" in without fail have a first aid kit. Here is a small list of the stalker's first aid kit "An elastic bandage (it's clear why, there is a danger of sprains and dislocations, you can even fall under the floor in many houses), one sterile bandage, peroxide, iodine, painkillers (ketanov - the most effective, but quite aggressive)."

The route of penetration of the stalker into the restricted area

Stalkers are reluctant to talk about the places of penetration into the zone. One gets the impression that each of the "gamblers" believes that his route is somehow unique. "Ideological" stalkers keep the "holes" secret due to the growing popularity of penetrations into the Chernobyl zone. They are also silent about the "holes" in the security perimeter of the city of Pripyat. It seems that everyone has their own "secret" route.
At the same time, for those who know the exclusion zone, it is quite easy to determine the likely places of penetration from photographs that are posted in abundance on the net.
We will not post detailed maps of the stalkers' routes in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Below is a schematic map of the penetration zones of different categories of stalkers, compiled based on the results of the analysis of reports and photographs.

Below are several schematic maps compiled by gamers stalkers. Published with the permission of the authors of the map.

Stalker map of the exclusion zone

Stalker card

Stalker - as a means of protecting the zone

Correspondence acquaintance with stalkers, which took place during the analysis of their reports, leads to several conflicting thoughts. The first problem that lies on the surface is the need to tighten security measures, strengthen control and punishment. With a high degree of certainty, we can say that this approach is unlikely to solve the problem. Since stalkers with experience have already established contacts with the locals (natives) and know about all modes of patrolling the perimeter of the Chernobyl zone. The strengthening of control is likely to be temporary, but in the face of progressive financial crisis there will probably be no impact at all.
The second approach is the possibility of involving stalkers in the work of protecting and caring for the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Legalization. The approach is not without flaws - but with a thoughtful approach, young people could, on a voluntary basis, connect to the work of foresters and other important services of the exclusion zone, which, by the nature of their activities, are associated with the care and control of the state of 2600 square kilometers of the ecological catastrophe zone.
It is important that this approach, which allows young people to take part in scientific and manufacturing process enterprises of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, would have both a powerful educational and educational character.
Agree, today it is very important for our degrading society.

The authors do not approve of the penetration of stalkers into the exclusion zone, because these actions are not only illegal, but dangerous for the stalkers themselves. For completeness of information when making a decision on penetration, we have compiled a rating of dangers when visiting the zone illegally. When constructing the rating, the authors used more than 10-year personal experience field work in the Zone and the experience of colleagues, information about incidents and accidents. Types of hazards are arranged according to the increasing probability of their implementation.

1. Wild animals. There are three types of large predators that can potentially attack a person are a lynx, a wolf, and possibly a bear. Regarding the latter species, there are no reliable signs of its presence, but this is rather a flaw of the researchers, because it exists in the Belarusian part of the zone. In addition to the threat of attack, predators can serve as a source of rabies infection. Poisonous animals - common viper and hornets. The viper is quite numerous - this is due to the abundance of its habitats: swamps and humid forests. Hornets build nests in closed spaces - hollows, voids, abandoned rooms. Despite its size, it is a rather dangerous creature - one of the authors witnessed how a hornet "disabled" an adult man for 4 hours, in 2008 an electrician died from a hornet bite.
2. Radiation sources. The ranking of the zone at 5-km, 10-km and 30-km according to the degree of danger and dose load is quite adequate, but rather gives a general picture. You are not immune from getting a dose even in the "cleanest" places. The reason for this may be man-made sources - a part from the equipment that took part in the liquidation, a "dirty" room in which, in 1986, the liquidators kept "dirty" things.
3. Law enforcement agencies. The service of the internal affairs bodies in the zone is not limited to the protection of the perimeter and objects. Therefore, solving the problem of "bypassing the checkpoint" does not solve problems. In addition to security, there are operational units, catching illegal visitors is their job. For such work - raids and sweeps - "non-local" units of the security profile (special forces and rapid response groups) are involved. And if you light up, then the hunt will begin. By the way, it lights up very easily. The zone only seems lifeless, in fact, the “eye” is enough, and it is very easy for an experienced person to calculate the “non-native” in the wake of the stay. There is only one result - a stage to the Ivankovsky district court through the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Chernobyl. In addition to the police, the following services can hunt a stalker - border troops, forest guards, operational groups of the VOKhR.
4. Illegal rabble. There are enough of them in the Zone - hunters for metal and building materials, mushroom pickers, poachers. One cannot be a misanthrope, but this category of people is such that it is better to re-read Arseniev: “In the taiga of the Ussuri Territory, one must always count on the possibility of meeting with wild animals. But the most unpleasant thing is meeting a person. The beast flees from a man by flight, but if he rushes, then only when he is pursued. In such cases, both the hunter and the beast - everyone knows what to do. Another thing is a person. In the taiga, God is the only witness, and therefore the custom has developed a special skill. A person who sees another person should first of all hide and prepare a rifle. These can hand you over to the police or deprive you of property, health, and life. The last option is not very rare. As one police officer explained, “poachers are not loved here, not because they exterminate animals, but because any imported trunk often finds targets among people” (negligence or murder is not important).
5. Non-resident. The territory itself, without taking into account the radiation factor, is fraught with many dangers. The most typical are various kinds of penetration into the ground: wells, cesspools, basements, etc. For 20 years, everything has grown so much that you can’t see it right away. Another problem is traps, loops and traps - tools of poachers and self-settlers. The abundance of swamps suggests the presence of bogs. You can list and list, but all these dangers are familiar to a more or less experienced tourist. However, this is the biggest problem. If something happens, then a qualified first honey. help can only be provided in the special medical unit of the city of Chernobyl or at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and this can be very far away ...

P.S. Emergency exit. The above arguments did not convince you and you are going to visit the zone. We will advise only one thing - working out the map before penetration, drawing a route, mark for yourself the points of "emergency exit". "Emergency exit" points are places where you can get in touch with the personnel of the exclusion zone and get help in a situation where you are not up to conspiracy. Points of "emergency exit": 1. Centers of the Zone - Chernobyl, town. Polesskoe and Chernobyl, Vilcha; 2. Bases of services and enterprises with round-the-clock stay of personnel - bases of foresters (Paryshev, Opachichi, Lubyanka), checkpoints (Lelev, Paryshev, Pripyat, Benevka), Yanov railway station. 3. Villages with self-settlers - Teremtsy, Ladyzhichi, Paryshev, Ilintsy, Dibrova, Lubyanka, Opachichi, Kupovatoye. 4. Fire stations of foresters - towers (Korogod and Cherevach).
Photo sources -
Bat

http://forum.anastasia.ru/

http://brutal-maniac.livejournal.com/

« While you decide which methods will be more useful, people will climb. And it's not for you to decide, dear you, my snickering stickers, who should go there. I think that these are, first of all, the individual problems of everyone who goes to the zone. The fact that you have loot and connections does not mean that everyone else is a “user”, which is obliged to bash. In addition, our beloved country will, in addition, undress the people through excursions…»

Ideological Stalker

“... I have been reading your site for a long time, but this article was especially touching. Very well written, no one has done this before you. To be honest, I did not expect that the proposal to legalize stalkers would come from “official” sources…”

About the plot:
Folk Solyanka is a modification where you need to keep a lot of details in your head, information for various quests. This article contains tips for quests that are included in the "Last Day and the Backwater" quest line. (Guide: Admin(Spaa-team))
Walkthrough guide: 1. We move to the backwater, read the radio traffic
2. After Norman deals with the Monolith fighters - we search the corpses, we find a map from one of them
3. We go to the helicopter, which lies in the swamp - we find the military man, we take away the document from him
4. We receive a message from the Perfumer, we go to the place that is marked on the map. There we speak with Robinson, he directs us to the Beard
5. We speak with the Beard, learn about the locals. After the conversation, we receive a message about the bandits caught, we go to a meeting.
6. After the negotiations, we go to the attic for weapons, we talk with Beard - we get the task. After we speak with Fainting, and then with Keith. We give them guns, we escort Keith to the nearest hill, we speak with him again.
7. We return, we speak with Fainting, we go with him to the local lads to Skadovsk
8. In Skadovsk we talk with Grandfather, we get the task, we talk with the Bartender, we talk with the guard at the entrance, we move forward with him to the barge
9. On the barge we kill all the mutants, we find the parts we need, we say, we go further on the road alone.

Where to look for radio components

10. We come to Vaseline, we talk to him, we climb to the top of the barge, to the antenna, after the radio exchange we go down, we talk again with Vaseline, we take the next task
11. We go to the Bandits at the substation, kill everyone, open the elevator doors, but don’t jump down, otherwise we won’t get out later
12. We take the radio components to Keith, talk to Beard, get a tip on the bloodsucker hunter, go to the village, clean it up, the hunter comes, we talk to him.
13. We learn about Sakharova, we get a new task to find a hunter's friend. We follow the bat.
14. On the Port cranes we find the body of a friend of the Bloodsucker Hunter, we take the documents from him, we take them to the hunter.
15. We get a tip on Sakharov, go to the substation, jump into the elevator, go to the closed door, after the radio exchange it will open
16. We pass deep into the room, we meet peaceful bloodsuckers and Sakharov, we say, we get a notebook for Professor Sakharov.
17. We go to Yantar, give the notebook to Sakharov, return to Zaton to the Bar on Skadovsk
18. We get the task from the Bartender - Track the rat. We climb higher, track down the rat.
19. After the Rat arrives at the destination, we go to talk to him. We get information about the cave, and the money that needs to be taken to the Bartender
20. We take the money to the Bartender, we get information about the Hunters and a couple of carcasses of rats, we go to the pine oak, we say, we get a tip on the leader of one of the bandit groups, we return to Grandfather.
21. Grandfather gives us a backpack and a tip to Broadway
22. We find Broadway, talk to him, get 2 pictures from him, go along the bearing to the factory
23. At the factory we get hit on the head, we wake up, we talk with the bloodsucker hunter, we get the task
24. We kill the troublemaker, we return to the hunter, we get a tip on the hiding place.
25. On the plateau we find a cache with the device, and near the helicopter in the box we find a notebook, we take the prey to the bloodsucker hunter. On the plateau, it will also not be superfluous to go into the cave, pick up a note from the scientist.

Stash spawn locations

Option 1
The cache lies on a plateau where one of the helicopters is located. Also at the helicopter itself is a box that needs to be searched.

Option 2
A cave under a burnt farm, the closest hole to the Emerald, and all the time keep to the left side, you will find it behind a pebble.

Option 2
Cave under the gas station. We approach from the side of the anomalous field, we see a cave, we go in, we jump over the fault, and here we are at the Cache.

26. We give the bloodsucker hunter his device. We're going to look for the military on the backwater

Where to look for a military

In the dungeons under the burnt farm

27. We go into the cave, but we see a blockage there, we go to Keith, we get information about how the blockage can be dismantled
28. We will need to activate a capsule with jelly near the blockage (It can be bought from the Bartender in Skadovsk)
29. We speak with the military, we get information about the drone, we leave the cave, we shoot down the glider.

Where is the downed glider

30. We pick up the orange module, we attribute it to the military. After we go to Sakharova, we speak, we get a tip on Gulden.
31. We find Gulden, we plan the release of Iskra.
32. We are waiting for the release of Iskra, we accompany the group to the cave where the military man is sitting. We speak with him, we speak with Gulden, we lead Iskra to the pioneer camp.
33. Upon arrival, we speak with Iskra, we get the code from the remote control in the MG, we head to it.
34. In MG we find a combination lock, open it, in the room we find Evil's laptop, we return to Zaton to Sakharova.
35. We return the laptop to Sakharova, we try to activate the remote control - nothing comes of it. We return to Elsa, pick up the laptop, go to Iskra
36. We give the laptop to Spark, walk for 10 minutes, learn about new code, we go to the control panel at the substation, activate it, receive SMS from Evil, we go to a meeting.
PS. When I first met Bland, I left him alive
37. After the conversation, we kill the Evil One, we receive a message from Bland, we go to a meeting with him
38. From Bland we get information about Lightning and a code from the door.
39. On the way we receive SMS from Fang, we find him at the gas station, we say, we go together to the base of the Last Day.
40. We take out the entire base with partners, go down to the lower level of the laboratory, kill Lightning, destroy the portal activator.
All =)

Several days of illegal life in the Exclusion Zone Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A hundred kilometers on its own through this unique place. With photos and videos.

For obvious reasons, I will not indicate the entry points to the Zone and the names of some settlements.
I do not support illegal extreme tourism in the Chernobyl Zone and do not take people there.

The long-awaited spring has come. All winter I was looking forward to it, because only in warm weather you can go on a multi-day trip with overnight stays in nature.

I have been planning a solo trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and the city of Pripyat since last year. And now the train ticket is bought, and it's time for me to pack my backpack.

I chose a rather exotic travel option: as a citizen of Russia, I cross the Russian-Ukrainian border by train, then I illegally enter the Zone alone, cross it in two days, visiting dead, evacuated villages along the way, enter the city of Pripyat and live there a few days, looking around the City and its environs. For the thrill of sensations, I do not take with me mobile phone and a topographic map (it's in my head).

As usual, early in the morning I arrive by train to Kyiv and go to the bus station. I take the bus Kyiv-****** and get to one locality. I leave in a small village a few kilometers from the border of the Chernobyl Zone. The railway passing through it leads directly to Pripyat. I have to walk this road for two days. After a few kilometers I come to village B. This is the beginning of the Zone. Forbidden, protected area. Zone of unconditional evacuation. Now you have to be very careful, because meeting with any person there is already a danger of being caught.

Suddenly, a man in a camouflage suit comes towards me, carrying a bicycle in his hands, from behind a turn closed by trees. Hiding is already useless (he saw me), so I calmly continue to move forward. I greet him when I meet him. The conversation goes like this:

- Where are you heading?
— I am a tourist, I am coming from Ovruch (“clean” territory), I want to see the village B*******.
So this is the Zone!
“I know, that’s why I want to look from afar.
- And why from afar? Go to the village, take a walk.
- And the police?
— Yes, she is only at the checkpoint a couple of kilometers from here. Sometimes the patrol goes, but if the documents are in order, then everything will be fine.
- And at the railway station if they notice me and ask what I'm doing here?
- Say that you write project work at the institute.
— Do the trains run here often?
- Yes, every night, there is a lumber camp.

I did not ask this person what he works in the Exclusion Zone. I say goodbye to him and move on. Now you have to go unnoticed through the existing station B., where people work. I turn off the railway and walk along the asphalt not far from the station. Near it I notice two people. Hiding behind one of the buildings, I wait 15 minutes, looking out - no one.

I quickly pass the area that is visible from the station, and move on, hiding in the thickets of nature. V. is the first settled village on my way. It is very overgrown, most of the houses burned down, only ruins with brick chimneys left of them, looking lonely at the sky, as if waiting for their former owners. This is a typical landscape of the Zone, which is difficult to get used to. Somewhere in this village, life is still glimmering - there are several local old people living out their lives - the indigenous inhabitants of V., who did not want to move from this infected place to a clean territory - to the village of the same name, specially built for migrants in the Kharkov region. For six years after the accident, they lived on radioactive soil, until Polesie was declared a dangerous zone, and local residents were offered to move. And in the resettled V., as well as in other few inhabited settlements of the Zone, there are fewer and fewer local residents every year ...

Gamma background in Vilcha is about 40 μR/h.

I leave the village and make a small halt. It's past noon and there's a long distance to go. Now two days to go through the deserted territory to the heart of the Chernobyl Zone - to the city of Pripyat. I take a backpack and head along the railroad. It is difficult to walk along it: a person's step is noticeably greater than the distance between the sleepers. If you step on each, the steps become short, and this is very exhausting. And with a heavy backpack, taking a step through the sleeper is also difficult.

This railway line is hardly used. This is evidenced by rusty rails and mighty shrubs growing between the sleepers and on the embankment. In some places, even low trees are found between the sleepers. A fallen forest tree leaned over the rails, blocking the way for a possible train:

Nature is reclaiming its territories once occupied by man...

After a few kilometers I come to the station P. From afar, it is not immediately possible to notice a platform consisting of concrete blocks - everything there is also overgrown with shrubs. Since 1986, no one has left it by train.

Watches are not needed in the Zone - the journey is adjusted by looking at the position of the sun. Daylight hours in April are not too long, as in summer, and there is still a long distance to go.

It's getting late, so I pick up my pace. The clean water bought in Kyiv is running out. I replenish the water supply from a small reservoir formed in the forest after the snow melted. The water is so clear that I drink it without even filtering it. It is only in the spring that there are many such reservoirs on the way. In the summer they dry up and for 55 kilometers there are only a few dirty swamps and two rivers with water of questionable quality.

The sun goes down to the horizon, it is necessary to choose a place to spend the night. Station K is on the way. This is the only building next to the station with an overgrown platform. A tree growing in the asphalt rests against the roof of the station building. The place for lodging for the night is not very good: this open building, of course, will not save you from wild animals, but there is a roof over your head in case of rain. I leave my rather boring backpack at the station and go to explore the surroundings, while the sun has not yet completely sunk below the horizon. Not far from the railway line, a sandy road with fresh tracks from the wheels of the car crosses. This is alarming, but not as much as the numerous traces of animals on the road and next to the place of lodging for the night.

It gets even darker.

I return to the station, unpack my sleeping bag, put on warm clothes. After a light supper by the light of a lantern (it got very dark). There is a deserted radioactive forest around me for tens of kilometers. This place is officially called "Polessky Radiation-Ecological Reserve".
The level of gamma background is 30-40 microR/h.
After a couple of hours, the birds stop singing, and complete silence sets in, occasionally broken by trees swaying in the wind ...
I fall asleep in a sleeping bag light sleep.

At dawn, I reluctantly get out of my sleeping bag and pack my backpack.

The rising sun, with its warm rays, illuminates the railway and station K, which recently lay in complete night darkness. Morning freshness invigorates better than strong coffee. I continue my journey. There are 30 kilometers to Pripyat, which must be covered before sunset. This figure, which easily fits into the mind of a city dweller, this moment seems too big: there are no cars - no one will give you a ride, no shops - nowhere to buy water, no electricity and mobile communications. This is a desert. Green, beautiful, with singing birds, with forest puddles, but a desert.
After a couple of kilometers, the Ilya River flows under the railway bridge.

The second bridge over the river is for cars. After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it was necessary to cross the river to eliminate the consequences. The military brought this folding metal bridge, which they never took away.

In the river I replenish the supply of water and move on. Forest mites cling to clothes, they have to be thrown off every 10-15 minutes.
The radiation background gradually rises to 60-80 microR/h.
Until this time, I walked in the 30 km Exclusion Zone. After the open gate with barbed wire, which once closed the railway, the 10-kilometer Zone begins (it is also called the "ten").

In general, there are three Chernobyl Zones: 30 km, 10 km and Pripyat with the Chernobyl industrial site. There is an anecdote on this topic: “In the 30-kilometer zone, it is customary to address each other with the prefix “fon”, in the 10-kilometer zone - “Your Grace”, and near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant - “Your Excellency”.
The single-lane railway line branches into three tracks - the next station is ahead - Tolstoy Les. To the left is a large brick building of the station with a rusty sign "THAT FOREST South-Western Order of Lenin Railway".

Making my way through the thickets, I approach the station door. The entrance was blocked by a tree growing on the steps. With difficulty I squeeze through its branches and go inside the station. To the right is the ticket office window, where tickets were sold until 1986, next to it is a rusty metal boiler for heating the room. The inscriptions made in Soviet times, before the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, are still distinguishable on it.

This station building, compared to others, is very well preserved: almost all the glass in the windows is intact, there are doors, a light bulb hangs on the ceiling, only there has been no electricity for many years.
In other rooms on the floor are soviet posters and mountains of accounting documents of this station. In the right wing of the building there used to be a shop for passengers waiting for their train. There must have been all sorts of goodies on sale at that time. Now there are dusty empty storefronts and broken scales:

Near the station there is a small station village. It is located in a very picturesque forest of ancient oaks. There are really beautiful places there. This is a nature reserve, as indicated by the sign:

Other buildings of this village are in a dilapidated state. Nearby is an incomprehensible underground structure:

Inside are even more incomprehensible containers with the inscription "Infected"

I measure the radiation background nearby, but it turns out to be no higher than in the vicinity.

The time is approaching noon. We must go further. Behind the station, the radiation background increases noticeably. On the radiometer, the readings already easily reach 100 at first, after 200 and 300 μR/h. This is not surprising: the western radioactive trace passed here after the accident at the nuclear power plant.
After 7 kilometers, the large village of Tolstoy Les adjoins the railway line.

This town has a great history. The first mention in historical documents dates back to 1447. Before the revolution of 1917, more than 1000 people lived in the village. In the 1970s - about 800. Before the Chernobyl disaster, she worked in the village secondary school and the unique Holy Resurrection Church, consecrated in 1860. It was built of wood without a single nail. In 1996, there were severe fires in these places. Not only this church, but also the local cemetery burned down in them.
The gamma background in Tolstoy Les exceeds 1000 μR/h in many places. Residents were resettled in 1986 in the Makarovsky district of the Kyiv region.
Not far from Tolstoy Les is the village of Novaya Krasnitsa. There is also the Krasnitsa station, which is identical in structure to the Kliviny station.

The good news is that there is a bench with a table. I sit down for a while to rest and get back on the road. It's still 20 kilometers to Pripyat, and it's already more than noon.
Gamma background - more than 300-400 microR / h.
After a couple of kilometers, the radiation noticeably decreases - I went through a period of severe infection. The railway is being improved: rotten and overgrown wooden sleepers are being replaced with concrete ones covered with fresh gravel. Trees were cut down on the slope so as not to interfere with the passage of the train.

Near the station called Buryakovka. In general, “buryakovka” is the Ukrainian name for vodka produced according to a special recipe. This is the name of the village, which was formed in the middle of the 19th century. After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, all residents were resettled in the Makarovsky district of the Kyiv region.

The water is running out again. In the station well, it is undrinkable. So I will replenish water supplies again from open sources.
Near the village of Buryakovka there is a radioactive burial ground for contaminated equipment and the only civilized storage facility for radioactive waste in the Zone, Vector, built jointly with the German company NUKEM. Not only "Chernobyl" waste accumulated there: in 2003, under conditions of high secrecy, 16 cubic meters of radioactive origin from the former Makarov military training ground were imported to Buryakovka for burial.
To the pipe of the 4th block of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant - 12 kilometers. The radiation background on the railway line is about 100 microR/h.
Three kilometers from Buryakovka station - Shepelichi station.

This is the last station before Pripyat. I'm going to the finish line. After a few kilometers I will enter the City - the main level of the Chernobyl Zone.
Elk!
In front of me, a moving silhouette appears in the distance. Really people?! I immediately look around, in case of retreat, to hide in the depths of the forest. But there is a wetland nearby, although this should not stop. Through binoculars I watch the silhouette in my path. It turns out to be an elk on the railroad line. Through binoculars it is possible to photograph this beast:

There are many moose in the Zone, I have met them on past trips. Moose do not attack people, they are afraid of them and run away. I keep moving forward.
It is noticeably darkening, and a few more kilometers to go to Pripyat. There are two rusty wagons on the ground near the forest:

Through binoculars, the pillars of the Yanov station are already visible.

Car!
To the right of the road, about 200 meters away, I hear the sound of a passing car! I quickly rush from the embankment into the thickets and observe: the minibus drove towards Pripyat and disappeared behind the trees. These are local workers who go to Buryakovka. In order not to risk it, I cautiously walk further along the path next to the railway.
Pripyat is nearby, but in order to get to the City, you also need to find a place where you can climb through the barbed wire that girds Pripyat. But it got very dark, so I decided to spend the night somewhere on the outskirts, so that early in the morning in the light of the sun I could calmly enter the closed City.

The nearest buildings of the Pripyat enterprise are fenced with barbed wire. I walk along the fence and after a while I find a place where I can go through it: there the barbed wire hangs down to the ground, and I calmly step over it, heading deeper into the enterprise. Nearby are abandoned garages and institutions with a gamma background level of 700-900 microR/h, and this is an unhealthy environment. I'm going to look for another place. 200-300 mcr/h is already better in terms of gamma, especially since there is no time left to look for a suitable place to sleep. I enter a long one-story building, choose a room, and by the light of a lantern I unpack my backpack. Now you can have dinner and relax after a many-kilometer transition.

A strong wind rises at night. In complete darkness, old doors and window frames creak, preventing sleep. The wind blowing into the room rustles the numerous accounting forms scattered on the floor. But fatigue takes its toll, and I gradually fall asleep.

Waking up early in the morning, I pack my backpack and carefully head to the center of Pripyat. The weather is getting worse: the sun has hidden behind the clouds, a cool wind is blowing, but this does not spoil the mood - I reached the City!

Approaching the well-known 16-storey building with the coat of arms of the USSR on the roof (Lazarev St., building 1), I hear the sound of a car. I run to this house and hide. The car passes somewhere nearby and leaves (I did not look out and did not see what kind of car it was). I enter this building and climb onto the roof, from where the whole city and the reactor are clearly visible.

Looking at the deserted closed City, there is a special feeling that cannot be expressed in words. Pripyat does not seem like a "leper" place at all. On the contrary, there is a feeling of comfort and tranquility. Now there is no city fuss, no people rushing to work, “rockets” do not depart from the pier, people do not rest in the parks. Peace and quiet. The city went out young, at the age of 16, when on April 27, 1986, 48 thousand of its inhabitants were evacuated. On that day, people were told that the city was being evacuated temporarily, for three days. None of them knew it was forever.

If you look at the City from a height for the first time, you won’t immediately say that it is dead: the residential quarters look pretty well preserved. But if you look closely, you notice that the power of plant life in Pripyat is so great that thickets of trees approached houses and porches. Trees grow even on balconies, from open hatches, on the roofs of buildings, from asphalt covered with moss and shrubs. The football field of the city stadium has turned into a grove.

But it is only from a height that the buildings seem to be in good condition. In fact, Pripyat is being destroyed. Part of the building of school No. 1 collapsed first. The underground infrastructure was flooded, many buildings were in disrepair. Some of them are dangerous to enter. That is why I am against illegal trips, when inexperienced and ignorant people go there and endanger their health and life. Even more upsetting is the fact that visitors to the City leave behind garbage: in the entrance of this house alone, I saw recently left empty bottles, packs of cigarettes, etc. I don’t leave anything in the Exclusion Zone: I take all my garbage with me and throw it in the trash when I return to Kyiv.
The wind is picking up and it's getting very chilly. I descend from the roof into an empty apartment on the 16th floor. I’m already deciding to go to the city, as through the window I see a bus that has arrived along Lenin Avenue from the Pripyat checkpoint. He stopped on Kurchatov Street near the Raduga store (where there is a yellow telephone booth).

Several people got out of it and went to this building. After 15 minutes they came out, carrying with them something like a stand, and brought it to the bus. Then we turned around and drove back to the checkpoint. During this time, another bus passed, also through Lenina Avenue, but headed in the other direction - to Lesia Ukrainka Street.

A few minutes later, a truck drove along the same route.

A police patrol that soon passed by finally led me to the idea that Pripyat was like a passage yard.
But here the City becomes empty for a while. I carefully leave the entrance and walk through the yards to the park.
The opening of the amusement park was planned for May 1, 1986. But in order to prevent panic and distract residents from the situation at the 4th power unit, the Ferris wheel was launched on April 26. One day it was in operation. Just 1 day. The attraction, frozen 23 years ago, will never again wait for its visitors.

There is a radioactive stain in this park. My radiometer shows values ​​that are noticeably higher than the gamma background: 300-400-600 μR / h. There are places with higher levels.

It's starting to rain. I'm heading downtown. Here for a long time familiar to me Shopping center, recreation center "Energetik", hotel "Polesie", music school, cinema "Prometheus".

The rain is getting stronger and I hide from it in music school. The building is in poor condition: a mosaic of colored stones in front of the main entrance collapses to the delight of irresponsible tourists; inside the school, the rotten floor was overgrown with moss, broken furniture everywhere; the ceiling leaks and floods the piano with the keys torn off. I wonder who needed to tear them off? In another room, a wooden box with a sign of radioactivity.

The rain stops, and I head through the thickets of Pripyat along Kurchatov Street to the river pier.
Shall we wait for the bus?

To get to the Pripyat River, you need to find a place in the fence with barbed wire. The pier is located behind the Pripyat cafe.

There was a radioactive stain on the pier. But the contamination with radionuclides there is very uneven. I spent a long time on the pier monitoring the radiation situation in order to find the most “dirty” place, exploring the area centimeter by centimeter.
The background level differs tenfold at a distance of only half a meter. For example, on the penultimate flight of stairs when descending to the pier on the steps, about 4000 microR / h, and on the ground behind the stairs 50 centimeters away, no more than 800 microR / h. A few meters from the stairs - on the asphalt of the pier - from 100 to 400 microR / h.
Catch for dinner, fish, big and small, two-tailed and two-headed =))

A few hundred meters from the asphalt jetty, there is a partially submerged floating jetty.

On the way to it, there is another local radioactive spot.

Behind the floating pier is a rescue station.

A few hundred meters from the exit from Pripyat is the village of Novye Shepelichi. This village is much older than Pripyat, and used to be the regional center of the Kyiv region.
Even before the trip, when planning to visit Novye Shepelichi, I found out on the Internet that ASKRO operates in the village ( automatic system control of the radiation situation) - such a booth with equipment that automatically makes measurements of the background radiation and transmits data to Chernobyl. The same system exists in Pripyat near the stadium. The peculiarity of ASKRO is that this system works without the participation of people.
There is also evidence that after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a farm was organized in Novye Shepelichy, where they studied the effect of radiation on bulls and cows. For some reason, this farm was closed.

Glory from the road - the PMK enterprise, on its territory a grocery store and several 4-storey houses. To the right of the road is a bus stop that has been empty for 23 years. In the center of the village there is a shop "Goods for children".
Rural one-story wooden houses are overgrown and dilapidated. I walk to the end of the village and go down to the river. There are rotten boats on the shore, “eaten up” by vegetation in the shade of trees approaching the river.

After a short rest by the river, I return to the village. The silence of the abandoned area is broken by the sound of a car pulling out of the alley behind me. I turn around and realize that it’s useless to hide - they have already seen me on a straight road (by the way, no one sells an invisibility hat?). I calmly continue to walk forward, moving to the left side of the road, already resigned to the fact that my journey is ending. A red Zhiguli car drives past me. The only person in the car - the driver - looked at me and drove on without stopping. Marvelous! I am in the 10-kilometer Zone, alone, with a backpack, without escorts, and not only they don’t stop me, they don’t even ask what I’m doing here! The car disappeared around the corner. The only local residents in the 10-kilometer Zone live there - grandfather Savva and his wife Elena. Here is their house:

Pripyat is surrounded by barbed wire.

To be continued.

Novochernobyl.

It was the fourth year of the confrontation between the stalkers of Novochernobyl and law enforcement agencies of Ukraine. The Chernobyl zone was released from state protection and came under the complete control of stalkers. Among them, a referendum was held, as a result of which Novochernobyl was proclaimed, which included two independent republics: the Central People's Republic and the ZNR (Central Stalker and Western Stalker People's Republics). The boundaries of the TsZNR have been expanded beyond Ivankov and Narodichi.

As a result of the confrontation, Ivankovsky, Dityatsky and Lelevsky boilers were formed, in which the police forces of Ukraine in the amount of 4.5 thousand people are digested.

In accordance with Art. 1-64 KSNOAN (Code of Novochernobyl stalkers on administrative violations), any obstruction to the presence and movement of stalkers in Novochernobyl and the penetration of any police, security and paramilitary state formations of Ukraine into its territory is prohibited. For the import of any non-radioactive items into Novochernobyl from the territory of Ukraine, a criminal article 562 UKSN (Criminal Code of Novochernobyl stalkers) has been introduced.

The NSC arch is being dismantled by the workers of Novarka, captured by the stalkers. Ukraine cuts off electricity supply to Novochernobyl. In response to this, the stalkers launch the 1st and 2nd power units and resume the construction of the second stage of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A railroad redoubt was installed at the Semikhody station to blockade electric trains from the territory controlled by Ukraine. The border with Belarus was taken under the control of Novochernobyl, the circulation of the hryvnia is prohibited, only Belarusian rubles are in circulation. Stalker has been declared the state language. The second state - Belarusian. Negotiations are underway with Alexander Lukashenko on the accession of Novochernobyl to Belarus. Ukraine in a panic turns to the Hague and European courts with claims against Belarus and asks for political support from Russia and the United States.

The curfew in the exclusion zone has been lifted, but stalkers are on duty at all checkpoints, carrying out access control. Regular patrols of the area are carried out by the self-defense forces of stalkers and the identification of persons who illegally entered the territory of Novochernobyl.

Groups of police saboteurs from Ukraine are periodically caught and liquidated in the TsNR and ZNR.

From the reports of Novochernobyl. April 13, 8:20 am.
A lone stalker takes up position in a Pripyat apartment and carefully observes the area through the window, trying not to give away his location. At 10:35 a.m., he discovers a group of three patrol policemen quietly making their way in the yards along the overgrown Lesya Ukrainka street, turning around every 5 meters. The stalker runs out of the apartment into the street in front of the patrolmen, blocking their way.
- Good day, lads! And what are you doing here?
- Yes, we are ... just walking.
- Have you heard about Article 1-64?
- Yes, but we were ... walking, we just wanted to look at Pripyat ... We are not policemen and not patrolmen ...
Why in police uniform?
- Yes, we bought it on the market in Kyiv.
- Let's get the documents. And lay out everything from backpacks and pockets on the ground.
The police dutifully hand over the documents to the stalker, unpack their backpacks on the ground and turn out their pockets. Stalker checks documents.
- Oh, so among you is a citizen of Lvov! Well, you guys got it! You will have to call the stalker security service, as is always done when a foreigner is caught on the territory of Novochernobyl. Lviv is no longer Ukraine.
- And what will we do now for this?
- This stalker court in Ivankovo ​​will decide what to do with you. Probably nothing will happen to the Lviv resident, they will have an educational conversation and will be expelled from Novochernobyl, and the rest will be sent to compulsory work to improve the conditions of stalkers. railroad you will clear the thickets from Vilcha to Krasnitsa, or drain the swamps in the Red Forest, maybe they will send you to dismantle the NSC arch with the French. Do you think it will be fair? We didn't come to you, but you came to us!
The cops mumbled reluctantly, which was fair.
“Oh, just don’t take us to Vilcha,” one policeman pleaded, “Last year, the stalkers detained me there, took away the thermal imager and the police uniform, after that I got a big blow from the authorities, almost got fired. Okay, there's a thermal imager, but why do you need a police uniform, I'll never know ...
- Yes, we don’t need a uniform, - the stalker answered, - but they took it away so that it would be disrespectful to go to us. And in general, we already got it, we catch it every time, and you keep climbing and climbing here, and even with hired foreigners, - the stalker was inflamed, - What are you doing here forgot? We are not coming to you!
The patrolmen silently lowered their heads, realizing that the rest of the day would be wasted only on drawing up protocols and taking evidence from them. And ahead loomed unillusory Ivankovsky stalker court - severe, but fair!
- Aren't they going to beat us? the policemen asked fearfully.
- If you behave decently, they won't. And rejoice that it was I who delayed you. If there were stalkers from Grezli in my place, you would long ago have taken you to Pripyat along Lenin Avenue, like the captured Frenchmen of Novarka last year. After them, the entire avenue was washed with water from the backwater.
What about the French?
- And it was wrong to build this shed at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Now they are working and dismantling it for free.
The stalker hid the policemen's passports in his pocket and called operational stalkers from Chernobyl by phone.
- Pack your things in backpacks and go to the apartment, you will help me to insert double-glazed windows, I will not work alone.
- Yes, yes, of course we will help, - the police responded with joy, - And after how long will they come for us from Chernobyl?
- In about seven hours they will come for you, but they will not come. We don't drive around Novochernobyl, we just walk around.
- Will they also deliver us to Chernobyl on foot?
- Naturally. And look, no nonsense there! I still have your documents, no one will let you out of Novochernobyl without them. If you try to run away, we will catch you and punish you anyway! And hand over your phones, all contacts from them will be checked against our stalker database.

Six hours later, with the help of the police, double-glazed windows were inserted in the stalker's apartment. The four of them sat down to dine at a cozy table in the center of the room. There was no longer a tense situation in the communication between the police and the stalker, they began to talk about everyday topics.
- And where did you, stalkers, double-glazed windows come from?
- In Belarus we buy.
- Hmm... And they say on television that Belarus is not helping you!
- They also say on television that foreigners do not serve in your police ranks, - said the stalker, nodding at the Lviv resident.
- He officially does not serve with us, he is a hired policeman, so to speak, he went to defend Ukraine of his own free will.
“Well, we don’t have official stalkers from Belarus either, only hired ones,” the stalker laughed.
- Tse OK zrada and slander! the policemen were outraged.
- Zrada, not zrada, but officially there are no Belarusians in Novochernobyl, period! Do you still have crucified stalkers on the square in front of Ivankov's court before your eyes? Why are you silent? Has it become embarrassing?
The conversation failed, and for the next 15 minutes everyone dined in silence. There was a knock on the apartment and the stalker went to open the door. From afar, someone else's sonorous voice sounded a greeting: "Glory to Novochernobyl!" the answer was not long in coming: "Glory to the stalkers!".
- Fat to stalkers, - one of the Ukrainian policemen mimicked quietly and caustically.
“They came for us from Chernobyl,” said the Lvov resident.
Two new stalkers entered the room and went to the policemen.
- So, so, soooo, we have dear guests, - said one of the stalkers with joy, - Shake out your backpacks and turn out your pockets!
- But we've already been searched!
- Well, nothing, search again.
The police reluctantly began to unpack their backpacks again, dragging their contents onto the floor. The second of the stalkers who arrived, thoughtfully moving a couple of their things with his foot, suddenly barked in an angry voice:
- The first two lines of the Novochernobyl anthem! Fast!
The policemen shuddered and indistinctly tightened:
- Shcheee died in Ukraine and glory and vooolya, Shche we are brothers stalkers of the Chernobyl roood ...
- And now they got up and started jumping with the words "Who does not jump - he will freeze!".
- This is too much! Stop mocking them! - said the very first stalker who detained the policemen, - We are not some kind of monsters, we will not act by their methods, especially since such torture is prohibited by the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners. Just take them and take them to Chernobyl, let them deal with them further as they want. And I still need to conduct electricity to the house from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, I’m already tired of cooking food at the stake, - with these words, the stalker handed over the police passports to his colleagues.

The path to Chernobyl first passed through the Red Forest. Everyone walked in silence, cursing this swampy area to themselves. "Nothing, the Ivankovsky cauldron will soon surrender to us, we will immediately force them to drain these swamps," the stalkers thought. "Nothing, soon Putin will come - put things in order, we will immediately force these stalkers to sit in this swamp again," the police dreamed. Twilight fell on Novochernobyl, there was a long way to Chernobyl ahead. In Pripyat, electric lights came on in many apartments.

Far past midnight, tired travelers reached the former Chernobyl police department, where the stalker department was located, and handed over the police to the hands of security officers, where they were met, albeit peacefully, but without enthusiasm:
- The contents of backpacks and pockets on the floor!
- But we are already... Oh, okay.
The interrogation continued until morning.
- How did they get into the territory of Novochernobyl?
- Through the line of demarcation near Katyuzhanka, then Ivankov and Oranoe bypassed the forest, after the Dityatsky cauldron, and straight to Pripyat.
- How did they force it?
- At first they wanted to cross the bridge at night, but behind the bridge they saw stalkers in an ambush and we had to swim across already two kilometers from Cherevach.
Do you have any prohibited items with you? I suggest you submit it right now.
With trembling hands, the Lvov resident pulled out a small book "The Constitution of Ukraine" from his bosom. The rest of the policemen covered their faces with their hands, quietly cursing the Lvov citizen:
- Well, why the hell did you take it with you? Couldn't leave in your country? Now you will be forced to eat it!
The stalker who was interrogating the police became gloomy and silent. After some silence, he said through his teeth:
- For what purpose did they enter the territory of Novochernobyl?
- The authorities sent us to you for reconnaissance, we did not want to go, but each of us has a family, children, they need to be fed with something ...
- And we don't have families and children? - the interrogator interrupted him angrily, - We held a referendum, created independent republics here and defend our territory from people like you! It's you climbing to us, not we to you!
- This referendum was illegal, not a single country, except for Belarus and a couple of banana republics, recognizes your Novochernobyl! - himself surprised at his courage, the Ukrainian policeman retorted, - And Russia is for us! Putin come - put things in order!
The entire stalker self-defense department laughed in unison.
- In the morning you will be taken to the Ivankovsky Stalker Court, where a decision will be made about your future fate. Then you will return with your escorts to the mandatory work for the benefit of Novochernobyl.
- Will they take you away? On foot again? - the policemen were dismayed.
- Of course on foot! We only walk. You reached Pripyat on foot, so get used to walking, it's good for your health. Moreover, you will go along the road, and not through forests and fields. In 11 hours you will reach at a fast pace with short breaks for rest. Now it's time to leave, otherwise you won't have time ...

It was the fourth year of the confrontation between the stalkers of Novochernobyl and law enforcement agencies of Ukraine.

Notes.
Art. 1-64 KSnoAN dated 09.10.2023 No. X-3708
Violation of the requirements of the security regime for stalkers in a specially defined zone of radiation contamination, which is expressed in the penetration of law enforcement agencies of Ukraine into this zone without official permission from the community of stalkers, or unauthorized patrolling in it, or obstructing the presence and movement of stalkers in it, -
entails punishment in the form of compulsory works for the benefit of Novochernobyl from 360 to 840 hours with confiscation of the instruments of committing the offense.

Art. 562 UKSN dated 10/09/2023 No. X-3709
Importation into the territory of Novochernobyl of any non-radioactive items, food products and animals - entails criminal liability in the form of imprisonment with compulsory work for the benefit of Novochernobyl for a period of two to five years.
The same actions, if they brought harm to the citizens of Novochernobyl or other grave consequences, are punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to ten years.